Claim to Fame
by cantankerousChronologist
Summary: Claim to Fame is part of a series of crossover fics between authors. In this story, a young boy decides that he will become the next Pokémon League Champion.
1. Fuck Mornings

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: There will be ten fics identical to this, hopefully, from ten different authors. Check my profile regularly for updates of the Project.**

**I do not in any way own the Pokemon Franchise. None of us do. This is merely a social experiment. We hope you enjoy it.**

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Fuck Mornings.

I lay in bed, facing the ceiling. I slowly turned my head to the left, facing my large window. Despite having the curtains drawn, the sun's rays still managed to filter through and disrupt my peaceful slumber. I glared daggers at my window.

_Fucking sun, _I thought. _Where do you get off waking me up at seven in the morning?_

I sighed, and threw my legs over the side of my bed. Pulling my upper body… upward, I buried my face in my hands and groaned. I was not, am not, and shall never be a morning person. I stood up, stretched, and took a quick look around to make sure I wasn't dreaming. Everything was where it should be: my bed in the rightmost corner of my room right next to the door, clothes strewn about the floor, TVs and game systems to the left of my bed right beneath my window. I shut my door and got dressed; nothing too fancy, just a t-shirt, jeans, and a pair of dirty old shoes. I went into my bathroom (which was right across the hall from my room) and showered, got dressed, and did other hygienic things. Now, I was by no means good looking. My hair wasn't too short, but wasn't anywhere near long. My face was cratery and I was a little pudgy. I yawned, walked back into my room, and put on my glasses. Are you bored yet?

At that point my mom called me from down the hall.

"Brian!" she said. "I need you to take these things to Mr. Briny!"

"'Kay!" I called back.

I hated going to Mr. Briny. Don't get me wrong, he was a pretty cool guy. I just hated the inevitable trek through Petalburg Woods. Heading to his house wasn't that bad - it was coming back that was the hard part. Unlike most kids my age, I didn't have any Pokémon. Seven years ago, when I turned ten, I was too afraid to leave my mom and go out on my own.

Rustboro, my hometown, was just north of Mr. Briny's cottage, so it wasn't more than a half hour trek to his place. I walked at a brisk pace; didn't stop that often. Not until I reached the outskirts of town, anyway. That's where all the local Trainers hung out. They were always making fun of my lack of Pokémon. I ignored them as I continued down the bridge, around the bend and into the woods. I hated the bug Pokémon. I half-ran half-jogged further in, and jumped down the ledges. Within ten minutes I had made it out of the woods.

It was at that point that my life changed forever. I saw a Ralts. It was backed into a corner, and a Zigzagoon was growling at it.

_Odd,_ I thought. _There shouldn't be any Ralts this side of Petalburg._

I pondered for a moment whether I should jump in and help. On the one hand, the poor thing could get hurt. On the other, that Zigzagoon was probably rabid. I closed my eyes and started walking toward the cottage. The Ralts whined. It was a horrible thing to hear. I swear to this day that it melted my heart. Deciding against my better judgment, I hurried to the scene. Soon as I got there, the Zigzagoon got scared and bolted. I smiled to myself.

I crouched down and looked at the little thing, and held my finger out to it. It was sniffling.

"Hey, don't cry," I smiled at it.

It held its arms upward. It reminded of the way an infant would tell its mother it wanted to be picked up. I obliged, and the Ralts crawled atop my head and lay there on its stomach. I patted its back and headed into Mr. Briny's little sea cottage.

"Mr. Briny!" I called. "Got a thing for you!"

The old man turned from whatever it was he was doing with his Wingull and smiled broadly at me. "What kind of thingy?"

I shrugged. "Hell if I know."

As Mr. Briny took the bag, he noticed the Ralts. It tried to crawl further down my head to escape, and I had to catch it as it almost fell.

"Where'd you get this little lady?"

"How can you tell it's a she?"

Mr. Briny smiled and pointed at his wrinkled old head. "Don't ask, don't tell. Now, where'd you find her?"

"I saw her getting attacked by a Zigzagoon just outside."

"Damn thing must've chased her all the way over here." He sighed and turned around. "Tell your mom I said thanks."

I smiled, told him sure, replaced Ralts on my head, and headed back for home.

"You need a name, don't you?" I asked the little Ralts. She cooed in reply. "How 'bout 'Twilight?'" I'm not sure how, but I could tell she was happy with the name.

The way back home was rather uneventful, which is an odd thing because usually there's the odd Trainer or two who mistakenly challenges me to a battle. I somehow had even managed to avoid the Trainers on the outskirts of town and made it all the way home.

"Hey, mom. Guess what I found."

Mom turned to face me from the kitchen and gasped in surprise. "A Ralts?"

"Her name is Twilight. She was being attacked and I couldn't just leave her."

My mom had a strange smile on her face. "Professor Birch is in town, you know. Why don't you go and become a registered trainer?"

I eyed her suspiciously. "I'm seventeen. It's kinda late for me to be a Trainer."

"Oh, please. My dad became a Trainer at twenty. It's never too late."

I thought on this. I always had wanted to become a Trainer. I thought about how great it would feel to return home after a long journey and show Mom all my badges, and then laugh at the look on her face when she hears that I was the Pokémon League Champion. I stood awhile in though, and finally nodded my head. I was determined to do this. I would become the next Hoenn League Champion.


	2. It's Official

Professor Birch was lodged in the Devon Corporation building on account of some business thing. I entered and asked the receptionist where I could find him, and she told me that he was on the top floor talking to Mr. Stone, the head of the corporation. I thanked her and headed up the stairs.

_They don't seem _too_ terribly busy,_ I thought.

"Excuse me, Professor Birch?"

The Professor whirled around and examined me head to toe. Well, toe to head, technically, because he noticed Twilight last.

"Why isn't she in her ball?" he asked.

"Because I don't have any."

He stood a short while in thought. Eventually he came to a conclusion. "It's a little late to be registering as a Trainer, don't you think?"

"I don't see any reason why I can't."

He smiled. I wasn't sure if that meant I made him laugh or if he was trying not to hit me.

"Well, you're in luck. I think I have some spare Pokéballs and a Dex in my temp lab. Excuse me, Mr. Stone."

Mr. Stone smiled and said that it wouldn't be a problem.

The Professor and I went down two floors, and approached a large steel door. He waved a card in front of it and it opened. We went in and stopped by a small computer. He punched a few keys, and asked me to stand in front of it without Twilight on my head. I reluctantly set her down on the table and stood in front of the computer. It scanned my entire body, made a _ping_ noise, and spat out a small ID card. Professor Birch asked me to sign it, which I did. He then crossed to a small desk, pulled out a Pokédex and Pokéballs, and then handed them to me.

"Congratulations," he began. "You are now an official Pokémon Trainer."

"Thank you." I smiled broadly, and crossed over to Twilight.

"Isn't this great?" I asked her. She just smiled back at me. I grabbed a Pokéball, and held it out to her. "This is to make it official." She reached out and touched it, and just like that she was officially my first Pokémon. I let her out of the ball, hoisted her back atop my head, shook the Professor's hand, let him pat her head, and then headed out of the building.

As I reached ground level, it occurred to me that I had yet to buy food for Twilight, so I eagerly rushed down to the Mart and bought quite a lot of it. After I got home and told my mom the news, we had lunch. I remember laughing at Twilight then; she could barely eat half of a Pokémon Food pellet.

I went to visit Mr. Briny again, managing to avoid the trainers on the way down.

"So, in about three days I'd like a ride to Dewford," I began. "Of course, I'll pay you."

The old man smiled warmly. "I don't need any pay. You're practically my grandson."

I shook my head. "I've got to. It wouldn't feel right if I didn't."

"All right. I've got to head down there then anyway. I've got to leave at three though, so don't be late."

"I won't be. Thanks, Mr. Briny."

"Not a problem. You two take care now."

He reached up and tried to pat Twilight's head again, and she actually let him. So I headed back home. I decided that his time, however, I was going to fight some trainers. They wouldn't even see what was coming. As soon as I left the cottage, though, I saw a little Poochyena. I smiled to myself, and chucked a Pokéball at it. To my surprise it held, and I had caught my first Pokémon. I picked the ball up and looked at it.

"I'm going to call you… Mighty."

The trek up was very fun. I could tell that Twilight and Mighty were getting stronger, and we didn't even lose a single battle. That alone was filling me with confidence.

As I reached the middle of town, I could see the gym to the north. I pondered entering for a moment, but decided against it. Twilight and Mighty had had enough exercise for one day, so I headed home. It was getting late and Mom had already gone to bed. I was a little disappointed at that because I wanted to introduce her to Mighty. I let Mighty out of his ball and prepared him and Twilight some food, and myself a sandwich. After that we headed to my room. I jumped in the shower, which Twilight was _not _happy about, got my PJs on, and laid, in my bed. Twilight curled up next to my face, and Mighty curled up at my feet.

_Maybe mornings aren't so bad after all._


	3. Roxanne

I stood in front of the Rustboro Gym.

_Today's the day,_ I thought.

Just as I took a step forward to enter the Gym, I ran into someone.

A woman.

And by "ran into", I mean my head ran headlong into her breasts. I have no idea if she noticed or not as she seemed preoccupied by something else.

Twilight nearly fell of my head. I caught her, blushed, and moved on.

There were two Trainers prior to the Leader. Oddly enough the gym had a path that would allow me to avoid them. I pondered for a moment whether I wanted to fight them or not. I decided that it would be best for me to avoid conflict. So I took the longer path around, and found my way to the leader.

"Hello, Trainer," she said cheerily. "I am Roxanne."

"I'm Brian."

We shook hands.

"It is my job to test the strengths of Trainers who wish to challenge the League. Shall we begin?"

She walked to the opposite end of the battlefield. I closed my eyes.

_Here we go._

Roxanne started with her Geodude. I set Twilight on the ground.

"Confusion!" I commanded. Twilight began to glow. I could feel the disturbances in the air. I stepped back as the waves were pushed toward Geodude. Roxanne jumped back as Geodude fell, dazed.

"Rock throw!" shouted Roxanne to her struggling comrade. The Geodude grasped for a chunk of rock littering the gym floor, hoisting it skyward. Unfortunately, the rock was thrown vertical, pummeling Geodude on the rebound.

"Oh, no!" Geodude, return!" The Geodude was recalled to its Pokéball.

_One down_, I thought.

"You put up a good fight." Roxanne grinned. "Brian! You've done well so far, but nothing can save you from this! Go Nosepass!"

_Well shit,_ I worried.

"Give it another Confusion!"

Twilight glowed again, and once more I could feel the disturbances. The wave hit Nosepass, but it sure as hell wasn't dazed.

"Did you think the same trick would work twice, little boy?" Roxanne taunted. "Rock Tomb!"

Nosepass collected rubble from the stadium and began hurling it at Twilight. One rock after another hit Twilight, and before long she was buried under a small pile of rocks.

I winced as I withdrew her.

_I'm fucked_, I thought as I called out Mighty. _Mighty's attacks are useless. What can he do?_

My thoughts were cut short as she commanded Nosepass to use Tackle. The Pokémon came charging toward Mighty as fast as it could. I stood dumbfounded; I had no idea what to do. Mighty looked at me, waiting for my orders. I surveyed the landscape. Nothing but rocks and walls.

Nosepass continued to charge mindlessly toward Might. Time was running out. And then it hit me: walls.

I grinned. "Mighty! Dodge left!"

Mighty dashed off just as Nosepass was about to hit him.

"Don't give up, Nosepass!" Roxanne called.

Nosepass whirled around and began charging toward Mighty again.

"Run to your right!"

Mighty skirted off to his right, and Nosepass followed. Might was running straight for a wall.

"Are you trying to hurt your Poochyena?" Roxanne asked.

_Wait for it…_

Mighty was about ten feet from the wall.

_Wait for it…_

Five feet.

_Wait for it…_

Barely a foot.

"Now! Jump off the wall!"

Mighty leaped forward, planted his paws on the wall, and vaulted over Nosepass' head. Neither Nosepass nor Roxanne had time to react, and her Pokémon collided with the wall, which collapsed around it. Nosepass was buried under rubble.

I let out a sigh. "How's that for a Rock Tomb?"

_I should work on my one-liners,_ I thought to myself.

Roxanne recalled Nosepass.

"Brian," she began, "I have not seen resourcefulness like that for a very long time. And for that I commend you."

She reached into her pocket and pulled two things out. A badge and a CD. She tossed the badge at me while walking forward.

"You've earned that."

I caught the badge and placed it in my pocket. I walked over to Mighty and petted him.

Roxanne approached us and handed us the CD. "That CD is TM 39: Rock Tomb." She looked toward her collapsed wall and laughed. "Though it seems Mighty here already knows it." She patted his head.

"Thank you," I said.

"It was my pleasure. Oh! I almost forgot. The next Gym is in Dewford. Brawly's a lot tougher than me, so you better watch out."

"I'll be sure to. Take care!"

I recalled Mighty and headed towards the Pokémon center, overflowing with confidence.


End file.
